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May 30, 2005

Star Wars enhancements

Spirits

Just a list of changes and with pictures too! It's good reading especially if you're a Star Wars fan.

Episode IV: A New Hope

Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

Thanks to randytamayo at Pinoymac.

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May 28, 2005

Shufflehacks

Shufflegumcase
[via] Shufflehacks


All the hacks you could ever want for your iPod shuffle!

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Yahoo loves IE

Yahoo is testing PhotoMail and here's what I got with Camino...

"We're sorry. The Quick Select Tool could not be installed.
Quick Select is the browser software that enables PhotoMail. Quick Select is only available for PC users running Windows 2000 or XP with the Internet Explorer browser [version 5.5 and higher]. Quick Select Tool and PhotoMail are not available for Firefox, Netscape, and Macintosh users. If you do meet the requirements outlined above, please try closing all open browser windows and restarting Internet Explorer. Then visit Yahoo! Mail and try installing the Quick Select Tool again."

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May 26, 2005

Pages, Keynote updates

Fire up software update... if you have Pages and Keynote installed, updates are now up.

Pages 1.0.2 addresses issues with page navigation and organization. (28.7 MB)

Keynote 2.0.2 corrects a security issue. For detailed information on this Update, please visit this website: http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n61798 (21.9 MB)

Well, Software Update has correctly found these through my Powerbook. I had problems with Software Update earlier, seems like all's well now.

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Shout outs and rants

Shout outs go to Jerry Roberts over at Directions magazine here in Guam. Thanks for visiting our sites. Those visits and kind words (!) make our "hobby" worthwhile.

Thanks to the manager of ComPacific (sorry, I don't know your name). I went in the store yesterday, got a printer ink and a UPS... all in under 10 minutes and all under the manager's supervision. That's very commendable unlike in that other computer store less than 2000 steps away from the mall... I was there for 15 minutes and no one was attending to me.... no staff? Well, there were *four* attending to *one* customer.

Since I'm ranting let me say my disappointments about other computer stores and that one-stop game shop at the mall (and their branch in another mall)... please, please, please hire staff who know what they're selling. Many, many times these people pretend they know what they do but come on, smiles are not enough! Shape up! You need to keep all the customers you can in our small island.

This rant is making me hungry this early... I'm now craving for those excellent dimsum at Din Tai Fong in Tumon!

Nokia Internet Tablet

Nokia Tablet

@Yahoo! News

AP - Nokia Corp. is introducing a handheld tablet for Web-browsing over a wireless broadband connection, the company's first non-phone mobile device and the latest in a long line of attempts to create a so-called "Internet appliance" for quick online access around the home.

This definitely caught me off guard because I didn't expect Nokia to head towards this direction. A few days ago I blogged about the Apple tablet patent and just yesterday, Jeff's review of the LifeDrive ... so all my attention were with those. This new Nokia tablet *just* has 128MB of flash memory, Linux, and Opera. It also has WiFi and Bluetooth and will be going be on sale this summer... for $350.

Here's more at Nokia.

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May 25, 2005

LifeDrive review

Lifedrive

Well, Rob, I guess this is the review we're *afraid* to read. LOL.

Jeff Kirvin has posted his insights about the LifeDrive.

I will say that the early negative reviews in the New York Times and BargainPDA were certainly reviews of unfinished, pre-release units. The CompUSA demo I tested (btw, word is that despite recent retrenching in PDAs, Best Buy will be carrying the LifeDrive) was much faster and displayed none of the issues I've seen cited in reviews. It looks like PalmOne (soon to be just Palm, Inc again, but that's another article) has a potential hit on their hands.

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Pre-ordering Music?

Dj.Rszkabgq

I usually preorder books or DVDs .... but preorder music? I heard about this earlier but I can now see a preorder link for myself. It's for Black Eyed Peas' next album. Will preordering music take off? Well if it's iTunes starting it, it might just will.

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May 24, 2005

Fetch 5.0

01-Overview
Fetch used to be the only FTP application I use. It's nice to see that Fetch Softworks has updated v5.0... a lot.

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May 23, 2005

Liquid Metal

A liquid metal cooled graphics card! Now what I'm hoping for is an announcement from Apple about a liquid-cooled G5 Powerbook.

Liquid Metal is non-toxic, non-flammable, and completely environmentally safe. Sapphire's exciting new cooler is a compact, low-profile design using only one additional PC slot. Filled and sealed, it requires no user intervention, no reservoir or refilling and it is card resident so it requires no additional mounting space. The revolutionary use of an electromagnetic pump means no internal moving parts, low power consumption and delivers near silent operation.

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May 5 - TH55 and Treo 650

My TH55/E is now a year old. Still a great machine but my main PDA now is a Treo 650.

Compared with the Treo, the TH55/E takes better pictures. I like the Treo's D-pad but I sometimes miss the jogdial. Games are much faster in the Treo... well at least Bejeweled 2 is.

I miss Decuma but the Treo's keyboard (together with Instant Text) lets me input faster. Finally, the TH55's screen is a lot dimmer than the Treo 650. I haven't noticed this in the TH55... either that or my screen's dying.

I can't believe it's been a year!

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May 21, 2005

Battery Recall

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announces the following recall in voluntary cooperation with the firm below. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed....
The recalled lithium ion batteries are used with the following computers: 12-inch iBook G4, 12-inch PowerBook G4 and 15-inch PowerBook G4. The recalled batteries include those with model numbers A1061, A1078 and A1079 and serial numbers that begin with HQ441 through HQ507 or 3X446 through 3X510. Consumers should remove the battery from the computer to view the model and serial numbers labeled on the bottom of the unit. No other PowerBook or iBook batteries are involved in this recall.

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May 20, 2005

Personalized Google

Google Personalize

You can now personalize Google. Don't have a Google account yet? Now you can sign up after going through the customization screen.

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May 19, 2005

LifeDrive

This is a comment for Antonio Hernandez over at PalmAddict. He said... "Even now that palmone is about to launch the lifedrive i've read a lot of cmplain against it. ..." Believe me Antonio, I've heard complaints for *each and every* Clie that was ever released. Those who complain do not really understand the planning and production that goes into all these devices. Usually those who complain think each PDA is for everyone when in fact, each model is released with specific target markets.

As for me, I've switched back to the 320x320 screen. I've enjoyed using the Clies but the Treo 650 brings me back the simplicity I've admired when I first used a Pilot -- and this time, I can use my device as a phone! I've dropped all third-party launchers and third-party datebooks in favor of the default Calendar, Tasks, and Memos.

True zen. And it's very liberating.

As for my "lifedrive?" I have been using one since 2003. It's called a Powerbook.

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May 18, 2005

Sim R2D2

@MacUpdate

Make your Mac sound like an R2 unit! This freeware makes random R2 beeps and whistles.

And with that post starts my countdown until Episode 3... I'll be watching at 12am!

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iPod.iTunes 2.8.3

@MacUpdate

iPod.iTunes 2.8.3 - Transfer tracks & playlists from iPod to Mac.

Unlike other iPod copy tools, iPod.iTunes checks which iPod tracks or playlists are not in the iTunes music library and only adds those seamlessly into the iTunes library. iPod.iTunes can also transfer song rating, date played and play count.

I haven't tried it but I'm keeping it here for future reference. When I did a Tiger clean install and decided to move all my iTunes music in an external drive, I lost all my playlists. I recovered all my songs thanks to Podworks but it's a pain to rebuild all my playlists. Maybe Automator can help... that could be a future project.

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May 17, 2005

SpamSieve 2.3.1

@MacUpdate
The update came in time after I discovered it's not working anymore after updating to 10.4.1.

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10.4.1

Not yet available via Software Update but here's a page at Apple.

Here's the main download.

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May 13, 2005

NetNewsWire 2.0 Released!

Netnewswireiconlarge

@Ranchero Software: Weblog:

NetNewsWire 2.0 streamlines the award-winning RSS and Atom newsreader by removing the weblog editor and adding many new newsreading features.

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May 12, 2005

Firefox 1.0.4

Mozilla Firefox 1.0.4 Release Notes:

Celebrate-50M

Firefox 1.0.4 is a security update that is part of our ongoing program to provide a safe Internet experience for our customers. We recommend that all users upgrade to this latest version.

Here's what's new in Firefox 1.0.4:
Several
security fixes.
Fix to DHTML errors encountered at some web sites. For web developers,
learn more.

I find myself using Firefox from time to time just to see how it feels and looks in OS X. So from here, it's time to download the latest Camino build.

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DVD Player 4.6

@Apple - Support - Downloads :

DVD Player 4.6 delivers added support for DVD Studio Pro 4 authored HD DVDs. It is recommended for all users of DVD Player.

Key Updates include:
-Additional support for playing DSP 4 authored HD DVD folders from DVD discs and hard drives.
-Additional support of discs with both SD and DSP 4 authored HD content.
-Improved Global Player settings.
-Improved usage for last play and disc info dialogs.

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May 11, 2005

Toast 6 Titanium 6.1

Toast 6 Titanium v6.1
Of note: Following discussions with Apple, this version will no longer allow customers to create audio CDs, audio DVDs, or export audio to their hard drive using purchased iTunes music store content.

Includes all previous version 6 updates, in addition to:

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Data:

• Resolves an issue where Custom Hybrid format fails to write temporary partitions on Mac OS 10.4 (Tiger).
• Resolves an issue where Mac Volume format results in "error -36" on Mac OS 10.4 (Tiger).
• Resolves an issue where the HFS partition of discs created in Mac Volume or Custom Hybrid format has errors in the Master Directory Block when using the "Optimize on the Fly" option.
• Correctly records to DVD-R DL (dual layer) media for data disc formats.
• Resolves an issue where the Plextor 716 recorder detected CD-RW media as DVD-RAM.

Audio:

• Following discussions with Apple, this version will no longer allow customers to create audio CDs, audio DVDs, or export audio to their hard drive using purchased iTunes music store content.

Video:

• Resolves an issue with DV encoding on Mac OS 10.4 (Tiger/QuickTime 7).
• Resolves an issue where export of movies to DV results in "error -50" on Mac OS 10.4 (Tiger/QuickTime 7).
• Aspect ratio of video produced in Final Cut Pro now correctly detected and preserved when encoded.
• Correctly records to DVD-R DL (dual layer) media for DVD-Video. Resolves an issue where -R DL dual-layer media was detected as +R DL double-layer media and recording failed or the layer break was set incorrectly.

Copy:

• Resolves an issue with copies failing from images unable to be mounted or unmounted on Mac OS 10.4 (Tiger)

Deja Vu Backup Scheduler:
Updated Deja Vu v3.1 for Mac OS 10.4 (Tiger). To install Deja Vu for Tiger, follow the instructions in the Toast Setup Assistant. Deja Vu is located in the System Preferences.

Shrook 2.2

@MacUpdate:
One of the best RSS readers has finally been updated.

What's New:

• Full attachment support with iTunes and iPod integration for podcasts
• Access to podcasts from iPod Notes menu
• Spotlight searching support
• Support for self-signed HTTPS certificates
• Improved feed: support
• Various minor improvements and bugfixes

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Apple Granted Patent for Tablet Mac

Figure7 Th

@ Mac Observer:

Apple Computer was granted a patent for an enigmatically titled "Electronic device" Tuesday, May 10th, 2005. Illustrations for the device clearly indicate it to be a tablet-style Macintosh, and patent filings specifically compare it to the "HP Compaq Tablet PC" and several other tablet machines.

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Final Fantasy soundtracks

Finalfantasyitms

Final Fantasy series soundtracks!

...made me want to re-play the series... even if the only one I've finished was Final Fantasy III!

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The Keep-It-Clean Plan

@Real Simple

With a plan of attack, you can maintain a sparkling house in just 19 minutes a day.

To add more efficiency, download something while cleaning up:

- buy an iTunes album and download just before cleaning up
- download a large file such as NeoOffice/J
- Fix Disk Permissions
- run all system functions (that's sudo periodic daily weekly monthly)

- fire up Azureus to download the latest Smallville episode (it won't finish in 19 minutes but hey, you've downloaded something to continue for the following session)

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May 10, 2005

Videos now for sale in iTunes Music Store

Davematthews

Videos are now for sale. Check them out.

These videos are available when you buy the album. Some artists (like The Shins) are only offering Video Singles.

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1001 1.0b32

1001 1.0b32 - MacUpdate:

What's New:
Cosmetic changes and more informative status messages.
Stream updates should be a bit faster.
Screensaver was showing tagged streams even if configured not to do so. Fixed.

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Hacking Safari RSS

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW):

Want to make Safari's RSS page look different? Fix a few formatting bits that you don't like?
I did this a while ago and played around with the CSS formatting. I just changed the font sizes to something a bit smaller. It worked and I'm using Safari RSS again as my default RSS reader.

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Apple releases iTunes 4.8

@MacMinute
Apple has quietly released iTunes 4.8.

In other news, former Apple executive (and former RIAA CEO and Chairwoman) Hilary Rosen has spoken out against Apple's iTunes Music Store, notes Slyck.com.

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Ways to use RSS

Rss

@Lifehacker

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May 09, 2005

Mail Fixer 1.0

Mail Fixer is a free utility to change the appearance of Apple Mail 2.0. This version includes the Sunken Aqua Theme.

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Cool shortcuts

Spotlight (thanks rom):

CMD+Space to activate. CMD+Enter to launch the Top Hit.

Safari (thanks Reggie):

CMD+Ctrl+D opens up a dictionary popup of whatever word is under the cursor.

Holding down CMD+Ctrl lets you mouse over other words. Works for Safari and other Cocoa apps.

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LapCop 3.0

@VersionTracker: Mac OS X
LapCop monitors network and printer settings. Once these change, an email is sent to the configured address.

LapCop is now Tiger compatible.

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Malicious Web Pages Can Install Dashboard Widgets

Picture 2

@Slashdot

bonch writes "If you're running Safari on OS X Tiger and go to this website, a 'slightly evil' Dashboard widget will be automatically downloaded and installed and can't be removed without manually removing the file from the Library folder and rebooting the computer. The widget is called Zaptastic and is a demonstration by the author of how easy it is to exploit Dashboard for nefarious purposes. The essay, released under the Creative Commons License, goes on to describe the many ways users can be taken advantage of--imagine porn sites auto-installing adware widgets without your knowledge." So if you're on a Mac, it would be smart to view that page with something other than Safari.

EDIT I've removed the link to that site to lessen the poor guy's bandwidth. I checked earlier and suddenly, there are so many Paypal links asking for donations!

Anyway, just do the following as a quick fix for Safari:
Safari > Preferences > General > uncheck "Open 'safe' files after downloading"

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VueScan 8.2.12

@MacUpdate - Mac OS X
VueScan 8.2.12 - Software for scanners, now with OCR.

* Added support for re-using preview when scanning
* Fixed problem with older Canon LiDE scanners

VueScan gave life to my ancient Epson 636U.

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Tofu 1.3.4

@VersionTracker: Mac OS X
on-screen text reader, arranges text in columns. This new version primarily fixes the disappearing text in the first two colums.

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May 08, 2005

30 Days to becoming an Opera8 Lover

I've been playing with Opera a lot lately. I've finally decided to sit down and read:

30 Days to becoming an Opera8 Lover

The series is at its 12th "day." It's by TJ Luoma who, like me, share many common interests for Opera.

My renewed interest for Opera came after being impressed with its BenchJS speed (I clocked it at about 7 seconds Mac, 4 seconds (!) WinXP). Of note too, Opera has been very Snappy™.

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May 07, 2005

ecto 2.3.2

The best just keeps on getting better. Here's what's new...

Added Automator actions (see the ecto weblog for details).
Additions and fixes in AppleScript support.
Shift key now works in custom HTML tags.
Keychain Access routines now use Keychain Services.
Passwords for HTTP AUTH obscured in console log.
Fixed issue where XMLRPC passwords and HTTP AUTH passwords could not be used together if the username was identical.
Dock menu.
You can now use the tags list" keyboard selection method for the category list as well (http://ecto.kung-foo.tv/archives/001368.php).
Sorted out an issue with command keys for bold and italic.
Trackback script was still using LWP::UserAgent. Fixed for good.
Fixed a crash that would occur with using an external editor. If an external editor's document was closed after posting a draft, ecto would crash.
Minor cosmetic changes.

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May 06, 2005

Spotlight as a launcher

It was Spotlight, Quicksilver... and now it's back to Spotlight.

Quicksilver is a fast launcher and has many features too. However, I've realized that a plain vanilla launcher is good enough for me. So what if Spotlight is a few seconds slower than Quicksilver? As long as Spotlight can reliably launch my apps then I'm good. It's cool to see Tiger showing search results as I type letters too!

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Fast Back and Forward for Camino

Camino

The latest Camino (and Firefox) builds feature fast Back and Forward between pages. In effect, the pages are reloaded form the local cache rather than retrieved from the net.

To activate, add the following line to your user.js file:

user_pref("browser.sessionhistory.max_viewers", 5);

and you're good to go.

This is a feature that I love in Opera. It's good to know that it's being implemented in Camino and Firefox.

[EDIT] Thanks to Kelson for this... " What's new (to Gecko browsers, anyway) about this feature is that it doesn't just store the HTML, images, etc., it stores the fully-rendered page. The reason it's been slow up until now is that it had to process the HTML all over again."

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May 05, 2005

Finder bug?

Columnbug
I've encountered this bug where a Finder window would open and would show a partial view of one column. Anyone else experiencing this?

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Popcorn 1.0.2

@MacUpdate - Mac OS X
- Burn/duplicate your DVD movies.

Popcorn v1.0.2

• Resolves an issue where adding a VIDEO_TS folder or disc image would fail on Mac OS 10.4 ( Tiger ).
• Resolves an issue where the Setup Assistant would rerun on Mac OS 10.4 (
Tiger ).
• Resolves cosmetic issues to the “Copy Options” sheet on Mac OS 10.4 (
Tiger ).
• Correctly records to DVD-R DL (dual layer) media for data disc formats.
• Close Captions now correctly preserved on discs where both subtitles and close captions exist.
• Resolves an issue with stuttering playback on some set-top DVD players.
• Resolves an issue of when performing a copy from a DVD-RW disc resulted in an incorrect CSS error message.
• Resolves an issue where renaming the source VIDEO_TS would result in an invalid copy.
• Can now correctly pass a VIDEO_TS folder directly to Popcorn via AppleScript.

Screen rotation... in a Powerbook

Screenrotate

@TUAW

I am happy to report that rotating your monitor on a 15-inch Powerbook has never been easier:

1. Launch System Preferences (if you already have System Preferences open quit it and launch it again).
2. Hold down the Option key and click the '
Monitors' "Displays" preference.
3. There's no step 3!

You should find yourself looking at a preference pane that looks exactly like the picture in this post. Rotate at your own risk though, navigating via trackpad with the screen rotated at 90 degrees isn't as easy as it sounds.

To return your screen to normal repeat steps 1 and 2 (including quitting System Preferences).


I tried it it my 17" Powerbook and the picture says it all. I confirm that trackpad and mouse controls are a bit disorienting so be warned again. I don't see a use for screen rotation in Powerbooks and iBooks but it's good to know that Tiger has it built-in.

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Adium X - 0.80

Adium Joel

(click to resize)

@VersionTracker: Mac OS X
multi-protocol instant messaging client

Lots of new things to like about this latest update. Check out my latest screenshot!

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Tiger app updates...

Just some of the apps that have been updated for Tiger. There's something new everyday!

Azureus 2.3.0.0
Java-based BitTorrent client... my default torrent downloader.

Adium X 0.80
Multi-protocol instant messaging client. Mine's configured to look like iChat.

Desktop Manager 0.5.3
A virtual desktop manager ... add more desktops!

MacMAME 0.96
Plays over 2,500 classic arcade games... that is if you have the ROMs.

Cyberduck 2.4.5
FTP and SFTP browser which I regularly used until I discovered Interarchy.

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Gamer's verdict on the new iMac G5: better.

@Engadget

It's good to hear that the new Macs are being noticed for their better gaming abilities. I still maintain a PC just for games... maybe in about a year, I'll finally have an all-in-one work/play Mac.

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May 04, 2005

Security Update 2005-005 (Panther)

Software Update

Security Update 2005-005 delivers a number of security enhancements and is recommended for all Macintosh users. This update includes the following components:

Apache
AppKit
AppleScript
Bluetooth
Finder
Foundation
Help Viewer
lukemftpd
sudo
Terminal
VPN
X11

For detailed information on this Update, please visit this website:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61798

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May 03, 2005

iMac G5 details

The new iMac G5, for a suggested retail price of $1,299 (US), includes:

-- 17-inch widescreen LCD with 1440-by-900 pixels;
-- 1.8 GHz 64-bit PowerPC G5 processor;
-- 512MB of 400 MHz DDR SDRAM;
-- 24X Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) optical drive;
-- ATI Radeon 9600 graphics processor with 128MB video memory;
-- Built-in AirPort Extreme wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR;
-- 10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet networking, 56K V.92 Modem;
-- 160GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
-- Two FireWire 400, three USB 2.0, two USB 1.1 ports; and
-- Built-in stereo speakers and microphone.

The new iMac G5, for a suggested retail price of $1,499 (US), includes:
-- 17-inch widescreen LCD with 1440-by-900 pixels;
-- 2.0 GHz 64-bit PowerPC G5 processor;
-- 512MB of 400 MHz DDR SDRAM;
-- 8X SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD+/-RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
-- ATI Radeon 9600 graphics processor with 128MB video memory;
-- Built-in AirPort Extreme wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR;
-- 10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet networking, 56K V.92 Modem;
-- 160GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
-- Two FireWire 400, three USB 2.0, two USB 1.1 ports; and
-- Built-in stereo speakers and microphone.

The new iMac G5, for a suggested retail price of $1,799 (US), includes:
-- 20-inch widescreen LCD with 1680-by-1050 pixels;
-- 2.0 GHz 64-bit PowerPC G5 processor;
-- 512MB of 400 MHz DDR SDRAM;
-- 8X SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD+/-RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
-- ATI Radeon 9600 graphics processor with 128MB video memory;
-- Built-in AirPort Extreme wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR;
-- 10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet networking, 56K V.92 Modem;
-- 250GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
-- Two FireWire 400, three USB 2.0, two USB 1.1 ports; and
-- Built-in stereo speakers and microphone.

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Apple unveils new iMac G5 line

@MacMinute

Apple today unveiled a new iMac G5 line with faster 2.0 GHz PowerPC G5 processors, built-in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth wireless connectivity and Mac OS X version 10.4 "Tiger," the latest version of the company's operating system...

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May 02, 2005

Parental Controls

Another Tiger feature: Parental Controls! This is great for families (and schools!) who have multiple users. Parentral controls are found in the Accounts preferences:

Mail - can be configured to only allow sending of mail to specific people. Permission email can be set for the parents or teacher/admin.

Finder/System - can be set to which apps the user has access to.

iChat - lists people the user can chat with.

Safari - can be set to allow access to certain sites/block other sites not in the list.

Dictionary - when activated, it prevents access to view certain words such as some profanity.

You cannot turn on Parental Controls for the admin.

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Quicktime 7

I forgot to mention Quicktime 7. There are new high definition trailers at Apple so I tested watching Serenity. It's awesome to see such a wide Quicktime screen open up!

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May 01, 2005

Tiger Thoughts

Tiger screenshot

Tiger's up and running now!

I first did an Upgrade installation but this ended up in frustration as Spotlight can't seem to stop indexing! My Powerbook fan won't stop spinning and the hard drive area was abnormally hot. (I assume I have so many files to index!) I've read that there's supposed to be a timer of how much time's left for Spotlight to index everything... but I never saw that. So I decided to do the following...

Erase and format as Extended journaled
Custom Install without Language Translations (1.1GB)
No X11 (89.2MB)
For a grand total of 3.6GB of Tiger....

and here are the good and bad news...

The Bad News

1. I lost all my files in my Movies and Pictures folders. Quite simply, I forgot to back it up. I could have backed-up my entire User folder but instead focused only on the Documents and Music folders.

2. This leads to the good news because I have recovered my other more important files... mainly my students' grades, my personal and work documents, and my unsorted Desktop files.

The Good News

1. Amazingly, Tiger runs fast on a 1.25 GHz (256MB) Mac mini. Granted I haven't run the heavy weight programs like iDVD, iMovie, iPhoto, and Photoshop CS but normal work such as web browsing, email, and the new Dashboard and Spotlight processes all work fast.

The welcome screen with the spotlight effect, was refreshing to see... so was hearing the voice over.

2. The 1.33 GHz (1GB) 17" Powerbook works great. Photoshop CS, the iApps, and even Appleworks opens up so fast.

3. Apps that I love:

a. Spotlight - This is always an eye-popping experience for me. I just type a few letters and the search results immediately show. Indeed, as Steve Jobs mentioned at MacWorld, searching is similar to what we've always had in iTunes. I've observed that to be more efficient, Spotlight must begin to build its index from nothing. If you do an upgrade installation, letting Spotlight index files you already have, would take some time. Spotlight works best when it is "spoon-fed" files as they are restored or installed.

To my surprise, Spotlight is also a launcher! However, I've realized that Spotlight is best for a system wide search. Quicksilver is still the quickest launcher for me. (Incidentally, Quicksilver b40 was just released for Tiger.)

I now have a "Notes" folder where I keep text files. Any record I put there can easily be seen and retrieved by Spotlight. To add to this, Spotlight can see text in PDF and in text layers of Photoshop. Now that's indexing!

At the moment, I see no use for MacJournal, StickyBrain, and all of the notebook apps to organize notes.

b. Browsers - whoa! Safari 2.0 is the best browser yet! BenchJS testing resulted in 10.52 seconds. (As an aside, Opera clocks in at 7.12 seconds, however I encounter errors during browsing which I don't encounter in Safari. Camino and Safari match speeds but Camino still doesn't feel like a 100% Mac app. I haven't tested Firefox because I feel it's a waste of time ... now that Safari works amazingly great!). No websites have crashed Safari yet. I like what I see and I have dropped all my other browsers. Oh yeah, Internet Explorer is no longer installed by default.

Since there's a new built-in RSS reader, I've set my RSS feeds to update in the Bookmark bar. The fastest RSS update rate is 30 minutes -- I was wishing for a 15-minute update interval but the difference is almost negligible. Eventually, I installed NewsFire. I still like its simplicity, blogging, and podcast support.

c. Utilities - I've discovered there's a Dictionary, Grapher, and an updated Calculator. There's also a new feature called Voice Over Utilities -- once activated, merely hovering the pointer on any area of the screen makes "Fred" say or read what's under the pointer! This is great for those who have eyesight problems. Sherlock is still around and "Rendezvous" is now called "Bonjour." Stuffit Expander is nowhere to be found.

d. Dashboard - Dropping a widget on the desktop results in a cool liquid ripple effect. (The Mac mini does not show this animation.) So far I've tried tracking flights, checked the pronunciation and definition of some words, and translated some Japanese characters to English! I now have three clocks (New York, London, and Riyadh). The Weather widget is set for Guam (the default was Cupertino). To change individual widgets, just "flip" them over!

e. Screensavers - The new ones are iTunes artwork, Nature patterns, Paper shadow, Spectrum, .mac, and my favorite, RSS Visualizer.

f. Automator - This is like Object-Oriented Programming. The last time I got close to programming in this manner was during my college days when I still had an Amiga! My first Automator mini project was to have a folder of images burned to a CD. This can be done with the Tiger's new Burn Folder but making the process in Automator was more fun. (There are other samples. For example, getting mail and putting the text in an iPod). I see a deluge of Automator scripts once Tiger's user base expands.

Last words

Just like what I've blogged earlier, installing Tiger is like getting a new Mac. Not only are there new features to discover, applications are being updated almost everyday. I began my blog in 2003 to document my experiences with OS X. With Tiger, it's like "switchblogging" again for the first time!

My thanks to Gino for the support!

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MacZealots

Tiger

Check out MacZealots for tons of tutorials and info about Tiger. This is one's going into my bookmark. Thanks for dropping by, Justin!

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Apple Releases New .Mac Features

@Apple Hot News

.Mac, Apple’s suite of innovative software and Internet services, has just been enhanced. .Mac membership unlocks exclusive Tiger features including Mac-to-Mac syncing of keychains and Mail settings like accounts, rules, signatures and Spotlight-driven Smart Mailboxes. Members also get access to comprehensive online tutorials for a variety of Apple products, such as Tiger, iLife, iWork, Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro, Shake and Logic. Also new is the .Mac Family Pack, giving up to five family members the .Mac experience for just $179.95 a year. Save $30 when you buy an individual .Mac membership or the .Mac Family Pack from the Apple online store, an Apple retail store or an authorized Apple resellers by May 23. [Apr 29, 2005]


Lots of new stuff which make me happy to be a .mac subscriber.

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